Intuition: A Meaning Making Process Based on Feelings - Maybe cultivated through sports?: A theoretical analysis of the process of intuition and a perspectival discussion of how to cultivate intuition – maybe through sports?
Translated title
Intuition: A Meaning Making Process Based on Feelings - Maybe cultivated through sports?
Author
Bisgaard, Christian Højen
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Pages
79
Abstract
Denne teoretiske afhandling undersøger, hvad intuition er, og om den kan kultiveres. Jeg gennemgår, hvordan idéen om intuition har udviklet sig i forskningslitteraturen, og hvilke antagelser der i dag dominerer. Den moderne forståelse er i høj grad præget af kognitiv psykologi, der studerer intuitive beslutninger under usikkerhed. To centrale begreber er begrænset rationalitet (vi beslutter med begrænset information og tid) og satisficing (at vælge en tilstrækkelig god løsning frem for den optimale). Jeg argumenterer for, at det er for snævert kun at se intuition som en kognitiv færdighed, der bedømmes på resultatet. For at udvide perspektivet anvender jeg en semiotisk mediationsforståelse – hvordan tegn og betydning former tænkning og handling. Ud fra denne vinkel er intuition en følelsesbaseret proces, der styrer vores meningsdannelse i hverdag og under pres. Den bygger på pleromatisk føling (en sanset fornemmelse af situationen) og hypergenerelle tegnfelter (meget brede, lærte mønstre af betydning, som er til rådighed i øjeblikket). Disse er i dynamisk samspil med vores skematiske perception, og nye mønstre kan opstå gennem abduktive spring (bedst mulige gæt). Jeg konkluderer, at intuition er en dynamisk, uundgåelig, idiografisk proces – tæt knyttet til den enkeltes virkelighed. Afslutningsvis, med afsæt i mine erfaringer som badmintontræner i Danmark og i townships i Sydafrika samt et lille pilotstudie på en dansk kostskole, diskuterer jeg, hvordan intuition kan kultiveres bevidst. Jeg foreslår en induktiv vej inspireret af Acceptance and Commitment Therapy og RICA-modellen (Register, Identify, Control/Accept, Act), eventuelt i sportslige rammer.
This theoretical thesis examines what intuition is and whether it can be cultivated. I review how the idea of intuition has developed in academic literature and what the dominant assumptions are today. Much of the modern view is shaped by cognitive psychology, which studies intuitive decisions under uncertainty. Two central ideas are bounded rationality (people decide with limited information and time) and satisficing (choosing a good‑enough option rather than the optimal one). I argue that treating intuition only as a cognitive skill judged by outcomes is too narrow. To broaden the picture, I use a semiotic mediation perspective—how signs and meanings shape thinking and action. From this angle, intuition is a feeling‑based process that guides how we make sense of situations, both under pressure and in everyday life. It draws on pleromatic feeling (a felt sense of the situation) and hypergeneralized sign fields (very broad, learned patterns of meaning available in the moment). These interact dynamically with our schematic perceptions, and new patterns can arise through abductive leaps (best‑guess inferences). I conclude that intuition is a dynamic, inevitable, idiographic process—deeply tied to one’s personal reality. Finally, based on my experiences coaching badminton in Denmark and in South African townships, and on a small pilot study at a Danish boarding school, I discuss how intuition might be intentionally cultivated. I suggest an inductive pathway informed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the RICA model (Register, Identify, Control/Accept, Act), potentially within sports practice.
[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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